Notes From the Baylor Series: The Wildcats won just one of the three games against No. 10 Baylor, but had an opportunity to sweep the series after rallying on both Saturday and Sunday from substantial deficits ... Arizona came back from a 9-4 deficit on Saturday to force extra innings and an 8-0 disadvantage on Sunday ... The two extra inning games marked the first time since 1997 that two contests in a series went into extra frames ... In addition to battling Baylor, Arizona also took on the flu. Freshmen Derek Decater and Nick Hundley, along with sophomore's Mark Worrell and Pat Reilly all missed parts of the weekend due to the flu ... Offensively, Reilly led Arizona with a .571 batting average (4 for 7) in the series ... Freshmen Brad Boyer and Trevor Crowe each hit their first collegiate home runs and did so in back-to-back fashion in the third inning of Saturday's loss. Classmate Jordan Brown went yard with a three-run shot for his first Arizona home run on Sunday ... Junior Brian Anderson also hit his first home run of the season in the series ... Boyer, Crowe and Moises Duran led the Wildcat RBI effort with four each during the series ... Junior Richie Gardner tossed nine innings in Sunday's 11-inning loss ... Freshman Kevin Guyette picked up his first save of the season in Friday's 7-4 win ... The right-hander tossed 2.2 innings of no-run, three-hit ball to close out the win for starter Joe Little ... Despite losing two of three, Arizona still leads the all-time series with Baylor four games to two.

The Last Time...: ...Arizona played two extra inning games in a series was back in 1997 against California in Berkeley. Unlike the 2003 version, Arizona went on to win both of those contests, defeating the Bears 8-7 in 15 innings on February 28 and again 2-1 in 10 innings a day later on March 1.

Still Streaking:Pat Reilly's carry-over hitting streak from last season lives on at 11-straight after the sophomore collected at least one hit in each of the two games he played against Baylor. Reilly hit successfully in each of Arizona's final six games last season and has at least one hit in all five of the games he has played in 2003. Classmate Richard Mercado carried over a three-game hitting streak which now stands at six in a row ... On a similar note, Moises Duran, Brad Boyer and Brian Anderson have collected at least one hit in all six games for Arizona this season.

Back-To-Back:Brad Boyer and Trevor Crowe's home runs in Saturday's game against Baylor not only marked their first home runs at Arizona, but it was also the first time in nearly a year that UA players went yard in succession. Former Wildcat Marc Kaiser and current sophomore Jeff Van Houten went back-to-back on Feb. 22 of last season against UC Irvine.

Going Yard The First Time Out:Nick Hundley placed himself in some good company in his first game as an Arizona Wildcat. Hundley hit a home run in his first official at bat in the Cardinal and Navy on Jan. 30 against BYU, making him the first player to do so since former All-American Shelley Duncan did the same in his freshman season in 1999.

Getting Offensive: The Wildcat offense has posted some impressive numbers through the first six games of the season. The Wildcats are hitting .376 as a team and have posted 78 runs, 97 hits, 20 doubles and 10 home runs. The team has a .616 slugging percentage, a .426 on-base percentage and is averaging 13 runs, over 16 hits and 11 RBIs per game this season.

Lucky Seven: So far this season the seventh inning has been very kind to the Arizona offense and not so kind to its opponents. Through six games Arizona has out-scored its opponents 18-0 in the seventh inning alone. The 18 runs account for 23-percent of the total runs scored for UA this season. The Wildcats are also out-scoring their opponents 17-2 in the fifth inning. See page 4 of the notes for the inning-by-inning breakdown on Arizona's scoring

Upcoming: The Wildcats take to the road for the first time in 2003 with a trip to Irvine, Calif., to take on UC Irvine for three games. Like the Wildcats, the Anteaters have gotten off to a .500 start with a 2-2 record. UCI is in just its second season back in Division I baseball after taking a 10-year hiatus. UCI went 33-26 in 2002 under first-year head coach John Savage. Returning offensively this season for Anteaters is sophomore Matt Anderson. Anderson led UCI with 91 hits and 57 runs scored in 2002. Leading the returners on the mound for UCI is sophomore Glenn Swanson. A 2002 freshman All-American, Swanson went 8-5 and 4.44 ERA in his first collegiate season.

The Wildcats vs. The Anteaters: Arizona and UC Irvine have played against each other in five series dating back to 1971. The Wildcats own a 10-2-1 advantage all-time, including a three-game sweep over UCI in Tucson last season.

Road Openers: Dating back to 1960, Arizona is 22-19-1 (.536) in season road opening games. The Wildcats have opened the road slate with a win in the last four straight seasons.

Individual Record Setting Game:Richard Mercado's six-hit afternoon against BYU on Feb. 1 was the first for an Arizona player in 10 seasons and tied the school record for base knocks in a single game. The sophomore backstop tied former UA greats John Glenn (1972), Ron Hassey (1974), Les Pearsey (1978) and Chris Gump (1993) for the record. His five runs scored on the afternoon tied him with 21 other former players for the second-most in a single game ... Freshman Derek Decater's 11 total bases in the blowout win placed him tied for sixth in school history.

Scoring At Will: Arizona's 52 runs scored in the three games against BYU is tied for the third-most in a series in school history. Arizona posted 64 runs in two games against St. Francis in 1995 to establish the school record and the 1965 team scored 56 times in three games against New Mexico. In 1998 Arizona scored 52 total runs in a three-game series with Portland State.
The 32-run game marks the third-highest run total for a single game at Arizona. The Wildcats tallied a school record 40 runs in a game against St. Francis in 1995 and put up 36 against the Lobos in 1965.
The 29-run margin of victory against the Cougars ties for the second-largest ever at Arizona, trailing only the 30-run advantage the 1995 team enjoyed over St. Francis.

Waving Them In: Of the 15 players that had at least one plate appearance in the three-game series with BYU (Jan. 30-Feb. 1), 14 of them scored at least one run. A total of 12 of those players scored at least two runs and of which seven players came around to touch home five or more times.

Record Tying Afternoon: Arizona's 32-3 win against BYU on Feb. 1 tied a number of aged records at UA. The Wildcats sent 61 hitters to the plate and rapped out 32 hits in the win. Both marks tied school records for a nine inning game set 38 years ago (5/7/65) against New Mexico.

Starting Spots To Be Tough To Come By: It appears coach Lopez will face a 'good' problem this season. A couple of different spots in the lineup will be hotly contested this year, with playing time coming as the big reward. Freshman Nick Hundley and sophomore Richard Mercado both made a strong claim to the starting catcher role. Hundley has made three starts behind the dish this season and has hit .333 with a home run, two doubles and three RBIs. Mercado is currently second on the team in average (.533) and has six RBIs and seven runs scored.
The outfield situation also appears to be up for grabs. Freshman Derek Decater, who is limited to the DH role early on due to off season shoulder surgery, played in three games, making two starts. The first-year Wildcat is batting .500 with three RBIs and four runs scored. Joining Decater in the mix is sophomore Jeff Van Houten. The second-year starter is taking full advantage of Decater's rehab a .542 average, 14 RBIs (both team-highs) and eight runs scored in six games. JC transfer Dallas Haught is hitting .286, but leads the team with three stolen bases in four starts, while freshman Brad Boyer is batting .414 with a team-high nine runs scored in his first six games. Throw in Chris Frey (.333, 3 RBIs and a run) and Brian Anderson (.360, eight runs) and there will certainly be a lot at stake during practices this season.

Game In Nogales, Ariz.: The Arizona baseball team will host New Mexico for one game in Nogales, Ariz., this season. Although it has been a while since UA made a trip south of Tucson to play, the appearance is not all together unprecedented. Looking back into the past schedules it has been found that the 1963 team played a game in the Arizona border town. The Wildcats defeated former WAC foe Wyoming 8-1 on April 2 in the only other known game played in Nogales.

Surpassing 2002 Early On: Arizona's opening series provided the Wildcats an opportunity to surpass a number of single game highs from last season. In just three games, the Wildcats either equaled or went by the game highs of last season in team runs in an inning, runs scored, team hits, team RBIs, individual at bats, individual hits, individual doubles, individual triples, stolen bases and total bases for a single game. (All the single game marks can be found on page four of the notes)

Head Coach Andy Lopez:Andy Lopez, now in his second season at Arizona, has posted a career 721-445-6 (.618) record. In his three previous coaching stops, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Pepperdine and Florida, he has averaged eight more wins in his second year than in the first. At Florida his second-year team won a school record 50 games, 18 more than the year before, and advanced to the College World Series.

100 Years Of Arizona Baseball: This year will mark the 100th year of Arizona baseball. Since beginning with a 6-1 record in 1904 under head coach B.L. Cosgrove, the Wildcat program has found enormous success in its first 99 seasons. Arizona has recorded 2,248 victories (seventh all-time among Division I teams), won three national championships, finished second three other times, appeared in 14 College World Series, made 29 NCAA regional appearances, had 128 players get drafted and sign professional contracts (of which 52 reached the Major Leagues) and placed 73 players on 54 different All-America teams.

The Fall Season: The Wildcats played 14 intra squad games last fall and a number of players stood out in the early competition. Returning starter Joe Little led all pitchers with 21 strike outs in just 16 innings pitched. The southpaw also tallied an impressive 2.25 ERA. Newcomer Richie Gardner got a leg up for the third spot in the starting rotation with a 3-0 record and a team best 1.13 ERA in 16 fall innings. Fellow newcomer Jordan Brown went 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 12 strike outs. Junior Sean Rierson, the staff ace the past two seasons, tallied nine K's and a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings pitched.
Offensively, junior Mo Duran led all players with a .412 average and six home runs. John Hardy trailed closely with a .409 average and a team-high 14 RBIs. Newcomers Nick Hundley and Trevor Crowe impressed in their first appearances in the Cardinal and Navy, hitting .310 and .386 respectively. Crowe led all players with 17 hits, 10 stolen bases and 16 runs scored, while Hundley chipped in with 12 RBIs and a pair of home runs.